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MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 - 5
The warriors at times showed themselves cannibals, roasting and eating their captives, in the belief that in consuming the flesh of those who had shown great bravery in battle they were thereby sharing the brave spirit which once inhabited it. There was another tribe of considerable importance called the Assegun or Bone Indians, living on the south shore of the Upper Peninsula from St. Ignace northward There are said to be still visible a short distance from St. Ignace mounds and earthworks of these aborigines. This tribe trespassed on the territory of the Ottawas on the Manitoulins and a war was the result. In
this contest the Chippewas were allied with the Ottawas and a great battle was fought near Detour, where the Asseguns were completely vanquished. They were pursued by the victorious tribes and were driven westward, finally crossing the strait and sitting down near old Fort Mackinaw on the south shore, where they established their village. But peace with their neighbors, the Ot- tawas who occupied the other side of the strait, did not last long. Some encroachments gave excuse for renewed hostilities. The Ottawas and Chippewas gathered their forces and crossing over the strait, surprised and attacked the Asseguns in their new village and a terrible massacre followed. The latter were again routed and fled southward, following the eastern shore of Lake Michigan as far southward as the south bank of the Washtenaw, called by the French the Grand river. Here pursuit stopped and the Ottawas retired to St. Ignace. The Chippewas, who had been their confederates in this war, remained in the Lower Peninsula, however, and settled about Grand Traverse bay, where a remnant of them still exists. *
MICHIGAN
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